


A Chance Encounter in Awa - Akatsuki no Yona

by Piper Laurie (cnickels)



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Episode 23, Grief/Mourning, Hak knows what's up, Post-Betrayal, Yona and Su-won run into each other in Awa..., Yona has some feelings that come to the surface, akatsuki no yona - Freeform, anime to text adaption, idk I just like writing my own version of tv scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 08:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25347985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnickels/pseuds/Piper%20Laurie
Summary: This is my written adaption of the scene in episode 23 of the anime where Yona and Su-won run into each other in Awa, after Kum-Ji's defeat (idk what chapter it is in the manga). I mostly just added some inner monologue and fun little details, let me know if you like it!
Relationships: Son Hak/Yona, Soo-Won/Yona (Akatsuki no Yona)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	A Chance Encounter in Awa - Akatsuki no Yona

Yona walked on her own, feeling the quiet of the morning. The streets were empty and peaceful, since most everyone within a mile was still at the docks, celebrating. She breathed in the cool air, and sighed happily. Guilt and worry would come later, but today she could be content to feel the sun on her face and know that everyone she cared about was safe.

A green bird squawked overhead, and she smiled up at it against the sunlight. It reminded her of Jeaha, the way his green tunic flapped in the wind when he leaped.

She should return. Hak and the others would worry about her if she was gone too long. Besides, she was ready to celebrate too.

She spied a familiar turn up ahead, a shortcut that would be faster than the winding route she had taken. She jogged toward it, rounding the corner, and smacked into something solid and warm.

She tumbled back, falling onto her knees, already apologizing, “I- I’m sorry!”

“It’s alright, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Yona stiffened instantly. That voice…

A hand appeared in her vision, a pale hand with long slim fingers, reaching out to her. She stared at it, frozen. She couldn’t move. Her heart stopped beating and her muscles refused every order. It was only slowly, by degrees, that she managed to look up.

He was on his knees too, his fine white robes dusty with travel. She saw his fair hair draped over his shoulder as it always was, tied with a loose cord. An intricate golden clasp was fastened to his cloak, and its horribly familiar shape taunted her. At last, she saw his eyes. Green and lovely, widening with shock as they beheld her. Delicate, beautiful features that had once made her sigh with longing now stared at her.

“Su-won…” She didn’t mean to murmur his name. It fell from her lips without her realizing it.

“Yona?” She wanted to cry when he said her name, like a hopeful prayer. Then she remembered, with stark clarity, the last time he had said her name.

“Princess Yona.”

His face was hard and cold, a stranger’s face. “The king will not wake again. I killed him.”

The blood was on his face, on his robes, on his sword… and all over her father, pooling around his still body, staining her gown...

His voice now was dazed. “Are you an illusion? You’re...” She could see him hesitate, something like pain flashing across his features. “I heard you died on the cliffs in those mountains.”

She trembled. Her hands were visibly shaking as she clenched them in fists against her chest to hold in the ache, the terrible ache.

He saw her then, truly saw her, with her dirty gown and her scraped, bloody face. Her short hair. Her entire body was shuddering with rage or pain or fear, but she didn’t know which one. She had no clue what her expression showed him, but it made his face change.

“You really are Princess Yona.” This time, his voice was sad.

She remembered when he had promised, as a child, to always wipe away her tears when she cried, and to hold her hand until she fell asleep. She remembered his smile, so sweet and honest, like he loved no one in the world more than her.

She hated him.

“What are you doing here? Where is Hak?” He stood and paced. “No, that’s a stupid question. You’re safe. I’m sure it’s because he’s still risking his life to protect you.”

Yona wanted to leap up and scream at him, to beat at his chest until it caved in, to yell that he had no right to so much as speak Hak’s name.

But she still couldn’t move.

He was still speaking. “I came to investigate because I’d heard the lord of Awa was conducting illegal business with another country.” Why was he explaining? He stopped pacing, and they both heard a sound that finally shook Yona out of her trance. Footsteps, running their way, fast. They weren’t coming from the docks, and they were calling his name. Guards.

She leapt to her feet. It felt like her chest was a gaping wound, so she held it together with her hands as she turned to run-

A hand snagged her arm, his hand. He jerked her to him, making her cry out, and she saw his cloak swing in an arc over her, blocking out the sun. He wrapped it around her, tightening his arms when she struggled to get away, hissing, “Let go!”

He whispered, “Quiet. Be still.” For some reason, she listened. She was completely covered by his cloak, but for her skirt, and she instinctively knew she was safer here than in the open. She must not let anyone else recognize her. She stilled, her face pressed to his chest, her hands fisted between them as he held her in a mockery of an embrace.

“My Lord! You can’t walk off on your own.”

“General Judo, I apologize! I’m just so excited to be in a new city.”

She recognized the general’s angry voice, but it was muffled through the cloak. They were both drowned out by the fast beat of his heart, and her own.

“You’re excited? Is that why you’re with a woman?”

“What?” She heard his laugh, a light, merry laugh, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Please, General! That’s surprisingly crude of you.”

“Where you flirt with women is your business. But in the middle of a diplomatic mission is not the time!” He stormed angrily.

Another soldier tried to soothe him, “General, not so loud, calm down!”

She could feel the vibrations of Su-Won’s voice through his chest when he spoke. “Fine, fine, I’ll send her away! By the way, where is the Lord?"

“He’s missing.”

That was when she noticed his sword.

It was sheathed at his hip, only a few inches from her. She slowly eased a hand out from between them, and curved her fingers over the hilt to draw it out. Before it was an inch out of its sheath, a warm hand covered her own, pushing the blade back in. Yona froze. It was the first time she had felt the touch of his skin since that doomed banquet.

Su-won continued his conversation as if nothing had happened, but Yona was shaking again. She knew she should pry his hand away and draw the sword. Kill him, catch him off balance. His guards would likely kill her afterwards, but at least her father would be avenged. It had been so easy to kill Lord Kumji only a few hours ago. So easy. And yet she could not now force herself to move. She stayed like that, casually held by her friend, her first love, her mortal enemy.

Judo was still talking. “It seems that pirates attacked him last night on his way to sell slaves to the Kai empire. His men were thoroughly beaten, and the people he was trying to sell seem to be fine.”

“That’s good.” He tightened his hand over hers. “No one was hurt, then. I’ll have to thank the pirates.”

“Eh? Thank them?”

“We will overlook this incident.”

Yona’s eyes widened. He was being merciful to the pirates?

“Who will replace him as Lord of Awa?”

“I’ll decide when we return to the capital. Is that all, general?” His voice was teasing, and Yona felt him tighten his arms around her, obviously letting his men know that he wanted some privacy.

The general grunted, annoyed. “Do as you please!”

“Ah, you’re so hot headed.” He chuckled.

Yona could hear their footsteps fading away, and everything was silent but the beating of his heart against her cheek. He didn’t let go, and she didn’t dare move. She trembled again, hiding in the darkness of his cloak.

What did he want? If he wanted to kill her, he wouldn’t have wasted time talking to her. He wasn’t the type to beat around the bush, and yet he had been rambling before the general appeared. And why was he acting like he wanted to protect her from his own men? Shouldn’t he have given her to the general at once, as a prisoner?

And worst of all, why did she want to stay wrapped in his arms forever?

“Do you want to kill me?” His voice was quiet. It was the gentle voice she remembered, but it was filled with more sadness than she had ever heard. She didn’t dare think about his question too much, not with his hand warm over hers and his familiar scent wrapped all around her. She had reached for his sword, but could she really do it? When she didn’t answer, he sighed, “Of course you do. But I cannot die yet.” His voice became distant, and she imagined him staring off into the sky, his eyes wistful. “There is something I must do.”

He let go of her hand, and after a moment, she released the hilt as well. She told herself it was because she could never beat him in a fight anyways. He lifted his cloak, and she saw the sun again, reflected in his beautiful green eyes. It was like a blow to the chest to see his face again, so close.

“Goodbye, Yona.” He reached out as if to touch her face, then hesitated and pulled away with a sad smile. He turned and was gone, vanished around the bend in the road.

She stared after him.

Her hands hung limp at her sides, her eyes wide. Su-won had really been here, right in front of her, and she was still alive. Yona swayed on her feet, dizzy with shock and pain. After a moment, she felt a dull ache in her knees and realized she had fallen to the ground. She noticed her face was wet with tears, but they felt as thick and sticky as blood. For a moment, she thought they were.

Her chest hurt, as if dozens of bricks were pressing against it, crushing her. The pain spread into her throat and burst out of her mouth on a sob. She slapped a hand over her mouth, muffling the sound, but she couldn’t keep more from coming, racking her body. It was the most horrible sound she had ever heard. Terrible, anguished cries ripped from her throat, burning her skin and tearing at her heart. No matter how tightly she sealed her fingers over her lips, they kept coming: the tears, the ragged sounds and the sharp-edged grief that stabbed into her again and again, like a knife. Like a sword. Her body bent in half with the pain of it, and she pressed her forehead to the cool flagstones in front of her, keening her despair to the earth.

After that terrible night, her tears had been silent and cold. She had been too numb with shock to feel very much at all, and when she regained some semblance of normalcy days later, she had refused to dwell on the horrible events too much. She had not allowed herself to feel this raw pain, the loss and betrayal and grief all at once. It spilled out of her now in endless waves, like bright, gleaming blood.

Distantly, she heard a familiar voice frantically calling for her, drawing closer. She couldn’t respond. She was lost. The voice was very close now, but it felt far away, too far to touch her.

“Princess! Are you hurt? What happened?” She felt Hak hovering over her, but it didn’t matter. She rocked herself on the heartless stone, singing her agony to the cold, hard ground.

Su-won.

Hak had only seen Yona truly cry twice in his entire life. As a child, he had expected her to be constantly weeping and whining. She was a spoiled royal, after all. And indeed, she could fake crocodile tears and throw a royal hissy fit when it pleased her, but she never truly wept. He hadn’t realized it until the queen was killed. Only when he heard her breathless sobs coming from the garden had he realized that he had never heard the sound before. He remembered being oddly proud of her in that moment. She was a spoiled, rotten little girl, and yet she was strong enough to save her tears for the moments that mattered. Su-won comforted her that day, and Hak never saw her cry again. Even the crocodile tears became less frequent over the years.

But of course, everything changed on her birthday. The day Su-won killed the king and stole the throne, forcing Hak to take Yona and flee the castle. Even then, she didn’t cry until the castle was behind them. He didn’t know if her tears were for her father’s death or her love’s betrayal, but her tears had wrenched at his soul. She was still the bravest girl he knew.

Her father was dead. There was only one man left alive who could make her cry like that.

He glared in the direction he must’ve gone.

Yona’s sobs eventually subsided, but she still lay curled over her knees. Hak couldn’t bring himself to touch her. She had been quiet for so long that he thought she might’ve slipped into sleep, but he didn’t want to disturb her mourning.

He sat next to her, keeping vigil with her, and watching over her until she was ready to rise.

After what felt like hours, she suddenly lifted her head. Hak startled, leaping to his feet and holding out a hand to help her up.

She blinked slowly, her eyes red, but her cheeks were dry. Slowly, very slowly, she rose, ignoring his hand as if it wasn’t there. Without a word or a look at Hak, she walked back to the docks.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this and want to see a written adaptation of any other scenes from Yona (or any other anime/tv show you like), I am open to requests!


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